Morning Brief: Jan. 25, 2012

Today’s Morning Brief is brought to you by the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences. Click here for info on their Jan. 31 Big Thinking breakfast lecture on Parliament Hill: “Innovation? What Innovation? Re-thinking progress and how we measure it.”

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Stephen Harper flies to Davos to deliver a message to Canadians — Obama tackles the tax code in his State of the Union — McGuinty is short on details in cutting Ontario’s deficit — Rob Ford sees Stalinist tendencies on Toronto’s city council — And Mick Jagger says he won’t be used as a “political football.”

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Good Wednesday morning.

Stephen Harper left on a jet plane last night to join other world leaders, central bankers, CEOs and global economists in the picturesque mountain retreat of Davos, Switzerland, for three days of meetings. Yet even though the PM will be 6,200 kilometres from Ottawa, it’s expected he will be preaching to a Canadian audience. Harper will address the need for Europe to take charge of fixing its own problems and for Canada to diversify its international trade, yet sources say he will also seize the opportunity to set the tone for his government’s belt-tightening budget this spring.

Davos won’t get all the attention today, however. Eyes will also be firmly fixed on Washington as the U.S. Federal Reserve launches its interest rate forecast.

Barack Obama announced to Congress last night the State of the Union is getting better, but he had some improvements in mind. The president called for an overhaul of the tax code that would see anyone who makes more than a million dollars a year pay 30 per cent of it to the IRS. He also wants tax breaks for American companies that repatriate overseas jobs to the U.S., and aid for community college training for the unemployed. Obama also vowed that “nothing is off the table” in keeping Iran from going nuclear. In the partisan-charged atmosphere of the U.S. Congress, the president’s hour-long address compelled Republicans to keep their arms crossed silently, even as he extolled the virtues of political opponents working together for the benefit of all Americans, improving benefits for veterans and, perhaps most telling, calling on members of Congress to pay their own fair share in taxes. Obama’s verbatim remarks are reprinted here.

Dalton McGuinty gave his own (sort of) state of the union in Toronto yesterday. The Ontario premier talked about his plans to reduce the province’s $16-billion deficit, and recommitted to balancing the budget by 2017-18. Though the premier hinted at cost savings in health care and public-sector salaries, and vowed not to increase taxes, the speech was short on specifics.

Also in Toronto, Mayor Rob Ford is in hot water for comments he made yesterday to a radio talk host that compared some left-leaning city councillors to Joseph Stalin. While one councillor tried to talk to Ford about his remarks, another let it slide. “I’m trying to do real work,” Coun. Gord Perks told the Toronto Star.

The day after a meeting between the Crown and the First Nations, the deconstruction begins. This morning, national chief Shawn Atleo will speak to reporters about the meeting’s outcome, and what steps come next. Attawapiskat chief Theresa Spence will also get her two cents in when she addresses the Economic Club of Canada in Ottawa at lunchtime. Already, many chiefs are calling for a First Ministers meeting on First Nations issues.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay opened the latest meeting of the Permanent Joint Board of Defence last night with a keynote speech stressing the links between improved security and the economy. The meetings are expected to finalize plans for a combined Canada-U.S.defence, civil assistance and information sharing.

This evening in Montreal, Niki Ashton, Peggy Nash, Romeo Saganash, Martin Singh and Brian Topp will be at Oscar Peterson Concert Hall for an event that’s being billed as a leadership forum. iPolitics will be there, so watch for our report. Meanwhile, this week on CBC’s This Hour has 22 Minutes, Mark Critch put NDP leadership candidate and Canadian-French dual citizen Thomas Mulcair’s feet to the flames and finds out which side of the Atlantic he’d like to cool them on.

Here is what else you can expect for today:

The meeting of federal and provincial ministers responsible for justice and public safety gets underway in Charlottetown.

In Fredericton, Brian Gallant officially announces his candidacy for the leadership of New Brunswick’s Liberal party.

Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan is joined in Ottawa by Whitecap First Nation chief Darcy Bear to make an announcement related to First Nations self-government.

Corporate tax breaks designed to entice Canadian businesses to hire employees and invest in new equipment are instead inflating shareholder dividends and allowing companies to “hoard” billions, says a new study prepared by the Canadian Labour Congress. The report, released this morning, claims the “leading cash hoarder” is the Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, whose coffers reportedly grew by over $5 billion between 2000 and 2010. Other companies the study suggests are using government policy to enrich themselves are George Weston Limited, Barrick Gold Corporation, Research In Motion and Kinross Gold Corporation. Our Elizabeth Thompson has more on this story here.

Finally, Sir Mick Jagger has accused Britain’s Conservative party of trying to use him as a “political football.” Prime Minister David Cameron had recruited the music legend to be the star attraction at the Davos meetings this week to help boost investment to the U.K. In the Sun newspaper yesterday, a senior government source was quoted as saying the government was “tickled pink” with Jagger’s participation. That angered the Rolling Stones frontman, who pulled out of the meetings as a result. “There has been a lot of comment about my political allegiances which are inaccurate,” Jagger said. “I think it’s best I decline the invitation to the key event and curtail my visit.” Oops.

And with that, you’re good to go. Today’s headlines are here. Make the most of your Wednesday.

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